CMSD News Bureau
11/09/23
CMSD CEO Dr. Warren Morgan delivered his first State of the Schools address on Thursday, November 9th in front of a sold-out Grand Ballroom at the Huntington Convention Center. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and City Council President Blaine Griffin were on hand to witness the highly anticipated event by the new CEO.
Dr. Morgan used the speech to outline his vision and goals for moving the District forward. He also announced a set of benchmarks over five years for which he said the District will be held accountable – benchmarks that include metrics such as graduation rates, college enrollment, and greater proficiency in ELA and math by both elementary and high school students.
Upon taking the reins of the District in May, the CEO said he realized the school system had a mission statement but lacked a highly defined sense of institutional values.
“We needed to create a more formalized expression of our fundamental beliefs – a structure in which CMSD’s organizational behavior and thus its mission can be measured and held accountable,” said Dr. Morgan.
These values, which were created after extensive community feedback and consultation with staff, were used to create District priorities and achievement goals.
“I’m pleased to share today the Five Core Values that the Cleveland Metropolitan School District will publicly embrace and advance,” he said.
The stated values are the following:
- equity & inclusion
- student & community focus
- growth & Learning
- care & well being
- excellence & achievement
Dr. Morgan started the speech, which was hosted by the City Club of Cleveland, by sharing a chance encounter he had with a fellow traveler at a hotel in Indianapolis. The tense encounter was the genesis of a listening tour he launched shortly after he moved to Cleveland.
The hotel guest, a black man, was verbally mistreated by a member of the hotel staff, a white woman, who called police on the man after refusing to take his room complaint seriously. The hotel staff member angered the guest because she refused to listen to his concern and verbally insulted him.
“When I left Indianapolis for the drive back to Cleveland, a rhetorical question dominated my thoughts: How often do we fail to listen, and at what cost?”
“At that instant, I committed myself to starting my tenure in Cleveland by listening with deep intention,” said Dr. Morgan, who added that the listening tour will continue throughout the school year.
The speech also gave the CEO a chance to recognize three exceptional CMSD students and to honor famed architect, Robert Madison, a 1940 graduate of East Technical High School, who turned 100 years old in July.
To watch a video of the speech please click on the following link:
https://www.cityclub.org/forums/2023/11/09/2023-state-of-the-schools
